I really liked Alan Wake. It had some annoyances but in the end I was left with an overwhelmingly positive feeling about it. Max Payne was more of a mixed bag for me; the cover system felt extremely out of place and jarring given how the first two played. Yet it still had flashes of brilliance that hearkened back to the previous games, which are two of my most favortite games of all time.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

wtf_man wrote on Jan 2, 2013, 14:49:I know what it is.I don't like it and it throws my focal point off.About the only time I can stand it being "offset" is when it's used for "cover mode only", in certain games, and for very short periods of time.

Meh. Makes no difference to me. It didn't bother me with Dead Space either. The gameplay, graphics, atmosphere and narrative were excellent, which are much more important factors to me.

theyarecomingforyou wrote on Jan 2, 2013, 14:44:It's just a regular third-person cam, offset slightly to the side.

I know what it is.I don't like it and it throws my focal point off.About the only time I can stand it being "offset" is when it's used for "cover mode only", in certain games, and for very short periods of time.

I was very critical of Remedy for announcing they were dropping the PC as a platform for Alan Wake at the time and just as much when I heard they were going to be releasing it on PC nearly two years later. However, it was a really well done port and the graphics were exceptional (a dramatic improvement on the console version). Mouse and keyboard was properly implemented and it was well optimised. They also discounted the game and included all the DLC as standard, which was a nice gesture after the massive delay.

Kajetan wrote on Jan 2, 2013, 09:43:I would like to see a PC game for PCs, not just a port with horrible controls and weird design descisions, which may be ok with a console crowd but annoys the heck out of PC players. Remedy and Steam forums are full of PC players complaining about the mouse/keyboard controls and the "unusual" camera positions.

That really wasn't my experience at all. The mouse had mouse smoothing enabled by default but with it disabled it was much more responsive. As for the camera positions, I didn't have any issues. In fact it was very well done for a third-person game.

I for one am very interested to see what Remedy will be doing next, especially as it sounds like it will be released on PC (otherwise they wouldn't announce it when promoting a Steam sale).

MajorD wrote on Jan 2, 2013, 13:33:Okay good, it's not me then, as I thought the camera angle was awkward myself, but since Alan Wake is the first ‘3rd Person’ game I have ever purchased (Amazon <$7.00), I wasn't sure what to make of that camera angle since it was new to me. I only play ‘First Person’ perspective games, and since Alan Wake supposedly had a good story line, I figured I would go out on a limb and just give it a try. The story is intriguing, but that 3rd Person camera angle is annoying, along with the continuous cut-scenes that pull you in/out of the gameplay. I think the storyline is the only thing that will keep me playing it to its completion.

I find it strange that sophisticated gamers talk about not playing 3rd person games. You're missing a ton of great ones:Max Payne (which, admittedly, would work fine in 1st person)PrototypeGrand Theft AutoFreedom FightersMDKRed Faction 3GiantsArguably the Hitman gamesetc

3rd person gives you a much wider field of view. Some games really require that, and it's pretty limited in 1st person, where your head is pretty much always directly above your body (or, at best, a very limited lean function is implemented.)

Yes, you're right Beamer; over time I've thought about how I may be missing out on some great games by limiting myself to 'First Person' games. A lot of those '3rd Person' games do look great, but I have always found more immersion and realism with 'First Person' games. So, figured I would try 'again' with Alan Wake, but it may not have been a very good one for that. A friend recommended Assassin's Creed to me several times, so I ordered I (<$7.00) & II (<$9.00) from Amazon the other day. From what I'm reading, the levels/worlds are incredible, large, immersive, and the game is supposed to be fun. So, I'll give that a try and see what happens; hopefully it is a better game to expand my gaming horizons with. Thank you for the list of recommendations.

I completed Max Payne 3 a couple of days ago and I've been meaning on venting somewhere... It was Ok. 7/10 maybe. It could have been a solid 8 or 8.5 if the controls weren't as bad or if a bunch of design decisions would be changed. It pissed me off to a point where I almost stopped playing completely...

- It's sometimes very hard to know when a cinematic ends and when you can start controlling your character. It got me killed for no reason a couple of times. I try to shoot the enemies, nothing happen, so I wait for the game to unlock the controls, and BAM, I'm dead...

- The cinematics sometimes change your weapons for no reason. You had an mp5? Well you lost it. Why? No reason. Sometimes there's a good reason like, you left it in a chopper or you couldn't pick it back up in time. Most of the time, no. The thing is, nothing tells you this will happen and you're suddently pushed in a situation where you're making a mistake for no reason. It's not like, "solve this problem with these different tools", it's "we're not telling you we changed your tools, now find out we did and we'll laugh at your mistake"...

- Sometimes, the cinematics will let you keep your weapons, but they'll change which one you're using, for no reason, without prior visual queues. Cinematic ends, you're now using a pistol with 0 bullets, get killed instantly.

- When you're too close to walls, Max will point his guns in the air. When you shoot, you shoot in the air. This is retarded. It's very hard to tell when you're too close to a wall and will make you scream at the game for not shooting your enemies.

- The controls are convoluted and strange. There's several buttons that could be put into one. There's like 4 different ways of jumping that could just be context sensitive and it would work. Sometimes, max will refuse to shoot-dodge. It's probably a major bug. Shoot-dodge is infinitely more useful than regular slow-mo, which shouldn't even be an option seeing as it's completely useless.

- In the PC version, all weapons are useless, except for the regular pistol, the mp5 and the uzi. The enemies aim so well that you need to instant-headshot them or else you die very fast. The only weapons accurate enough are these 3. There's NO WAY the enemy aim is that accurate on consoles. The added difficulty is nice, but the game's console balancing of weapons makes it so most of them are useless.

I could go on. So, overall, lots of very bad decisions.

Other than that, the story is fine. The locations too. The action is solid when it works. It lacks a bit of variety action-wise though. It's constantly the same enemies and you constantly headshot them and they fall in an almost boring way. It lacks the combat variety of the original games.

wtf_man wrote on Jan 2, 2013, 12:12:I got through the tutorial to the Lighthouse and haven't touched it since. I can't stand that camera angle. Same for Dead Space. Why the fuck they do this, and not give you a choice, is beyond me. I don't care "how the game was designed"... I care more about "how confortable is it for me to play".

Okay good, it's not me then, as I thought the camera angle was awkward myself, but since Alan Wake is the first ‘3rd Person’ game I have ever purchased (Amazon <$7.00), I wasn't sure what to make of that camera angle since it was new to me. I only play ‘First Person’ perspective games, and since Alan Wake supposedly had a good story line, I figured I would go out on a limb and just give it a try. The story is intriguing, but that 3rd Person camera angle is annoying, along with the continuous cut-scenes that pull you in/out of the gameplay. I think the storyline is the only thing that will keep me playing it to its completion.

I find it strange that sophisticated gamers talk about not playing 3rd person games. You're missing a ton of great ones:Max Payne (which, admittedly, would work fine in 1st person)PrototypeGrand Theft AutoFreedom FightersMDKRed Faction 3GiantsArguably the Hitman gamesetc

3rd person gives you a much wider field of view. Some games really require that, and it's pretty limited in 1st person, where your head is pretty much always directly above your body (or, at best, a very limited lean function is implemented.)

wtf_man wrote on Jan 2, 2013, 12:12:I got through the tutorial to the Lighthouse and haven't touched it since. I can't stand that camera angle. Same for Dead Space. Why the fuck they do this, and not give you a choice, is beyond me. I don't care "how the game was designed"... I care more about "how confortable is it for me to play".

Okay good, it's not me then, as I thought the camera angle was awkward myself, but since Alan Wake is the first ‘3rd Person’ game I have ever purchased (Amazon <$7.00), I wasn't sure what to make of that camera angle since it was new to me. I only play ‘First Person’ perspective games, and since Alan Wake supposedly had a good story line, I figured I would go out on a limb and just give it a try. The story is intriguing, but that 3rd Person camera angle is annoying, along with the continuous cut-scenes that pull you in/out of the gameplay. I think the storyline is the only thing that will keep me playing it to its completion.

wtf_man wrote on Jan 2, 2013, 12:12:Unfortunately I bought Alan Wake on a Steam Sale, without doing my homework.

I got through the tutorial to the Lighthouse and haven't touched it since. I can't stand that camera angle. Same for Dead Space. Why the fuck they do this, and not give you a choice, is beyond me. I don't care "how the game was designed"... I care more about "how confortable is it for me to play".

So, Fuck 'em... they won't get my money again.

You mean 3rd person?

There should absolutely not be a choice. Games that offer a choice are usually limited in some way. You can't design something as well for both as you can for one or the other.

Unfortunately I bought Alan Wake on a Steam Sale, without doing my homework.

I got through the tutorial to the Lighthouse and haven't touched it since. I can't stand that camera angle. Same for Dead Space. Why the fuck they do this, and not give you a choice, is beyond me. I don't care "how the game was designed"... I care more about "how confortable is it for me to play".

It's going to be a game called Sid Down. It's about an internet troll who gets an email promising great fortune if he follows a set of very specific instructions. Instead of fortune, he falls down a well and hurts his back. At this point he vows revenge on the troll who trolled the troll.

Verno wrote on Jan 2, 2013, 09:35:Hopefully not another console exclusive.

Like the last one? Jepp, that was very "exclusive"

Love to see great things from Remedy on the PC again.

I would like to see a PC game for PCs, not just a port with horrible controls and weird design descisions, which may be ok with a console crowd but annoys the heck out of PC players. Remedy and Steam forums are full of PC players complaining about the mouse/keyboard controls and the "unusual" camera positions.

I liked the AW setting, the atmo and the visuals, but wasnt very exited in terms of interface, gameplay or enemy variety. There was much, MUCH room for improvement.